As technology becomes more a part of people's lives each day, Banks Elementary School teacher Liz Jackson is trying to find ways to integrate it into her classroom.

Jackson began her career teaching fourth and fifth grade at Southeast Elementary School six years ago. For the past two years, she has been a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Banks.

“I’ve always been intrigued by science since I was little," she said, "and I’m just naturally good at math.”

Jackson said technology is an important part of the classroom.

“I have a son who is 12 and if you put technology in front of him, whether it’s an iPhone or iPad, it’s going to grab his interest,” she said. “My students are the same way when you put an iPad in front of them. Anything that is technology driven is naturally going to draw the attention of a child.”

Jackson said she is teaching her students skills for jobs that have yet to be created.

“We have to teach and drive them in a way that is technology driven and this is technology that hasn’t even been invented yet,” she said. “They have to get their mindset going in a direction of being able to embrace the unknown, learn new things and not just take the easiest route.”

Jackson said this past year, students created their own Glogster, a digital platform similar to a website.

“We had science topics that they had to create a Glogster for,” she said. “The content had to be accurate. They had to learn how to cite sources and access school-approved websites provided for them. They also had to learn how to use iMovie and then embed a video where they did a skit that demonstrated what the topic was.”

Jackson said this past school year there only a few iPads for fifth-grade students, and she was excited when the Lenoir County School Board approved a one-to-one technology initiative at its May 5 meeting.

“If they know what it’s like to be in a classroom Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and to be able to keep the children’s attention while making it innovative and fun, it’s a good thing,” she said.

Jackson said schools need to get away from using paper and pencils.

“Students need to learn how to collaborate, they need to learn how to interact with others,” she said. “I don’t know of many jobs where you don’t interact with other people and that you don’t use technology.”

Jackson said she and Caryl Willis, who partners with her as fifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher at Banks, will email a math problem to students and the students will email them back using student email accounts known as ‘Gaggles.’

”In that process they have to learn that they can’t type an email to me as an adult and as their teacher in a certain way,” she said. “Instead of saying you with the letter U, they have to write y-o-u. They have to learn how to bridge the gap from texting into real academic writing.”

Jackson said the move to more technology is a team effort at Banks.

“This is Ashley Hood, who is the technology coordinator at Banks, and my co-teachers who are coming up with these ideas together,” she said.

Jackson said the mastery of learning is when you can teach someone else a skill that you have learned. She hopes to implement that next year through cross-grade collaborations.

“I want to work with the younger grades,” she said. “Once we’ve mastered something in fifth grade, I want to them to be able to go to a second- or third-grade classroom and teach those students.”

Ellen Benton, executive director of instruction for Lenoir County Public Schools, praised Jackson’s work in the classroom.

“Science in Liz Jackson’s classroom is a verb,” she said. “The students are actively involved in applying the science concepts they are learning in relevant and creative ways.”

Noah Clark can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Noah.Clark@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @nclark763.